Whole Wheat Pita Bread

There are so many things that once I make them at home, I can never go back to store-bought: pizza dough (more on that soon), salsa, ice cream, and definitely pita bread. Homemade pita is so soft and flavorful it makes its store-bought counterpart seem like a circle of cardboard. Since my favorite dinner is chicken gyros, the pita are an integral part of the meal. Most recently I decided to try this version of wheat pita bread for comparison to my old favorite, as an attempt to get a few more whole grains into my diet. Guess what? These pita are every bit as good as the old version but they are a bit healthier, they have a fabulous puffy texture, and the dough was even easier to work with. Win-win-win! (The Office, anyone?) It seems these will become my new go-to pita because really, why not?

Directions

01

In the bowl of a stand mixer*, combine the yeast, honey and ½ cup of the water. Stir gently to blend. Whisk ¼ cup of the bread flour and ¼ cup of the whole wheat flour into the yeast mixture until smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside until doubled in bulk and bubbly, about 45 minutes.

02

Remove the plastic wrap and return the bowl to the mixer stand, fitted with the dough hook. Add in the remaining ¾ cup of warm water, 1¼ cups bread flour, 1¼ cups whole wheat flour, olive oil and salt. Knead on low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Transfer the ball of dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat, and let rise in a warm draft-free place, about 1 hour, until doubled in bulk.

03

Place an oven rack in the middle position. Place a baking stone in the oven (if using) and preheat to 500˚ F.

04

Once the dough has risen, transfer to a lightly floured work surface, punch down the dough and divide into 8 equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball. Flatten one ball at a time into a disk, then stretch out into a 6½-7 inch circle. Transfer the rounds to a baking sheet or other work surface lightly sprinkled with cornmeal. Once all the rounds have been shaped, loosely cover with clean kitchen towels. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, until slightly puffy.

05

Transfer 4 pitas, 1 at a time, onto the baking surface. (Note: These can be baked on a baking stone or directly on the oven racks. I use a pizza stone, but either method is fine.) Bake 2 minutes, until puffed and pale golden. Gently flip the pitas over using tongs and bake 1 minute more. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely. Repeat with the remaining pitas. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

I know you’ve been around for awhile, but I just discovered you when I was looking up a recipe for Cherry Limeade Cupcakes. Haven’t tried anything yet because I’ve been so busy searching through your site! I’m in love with it!

I love all things yeast, but had not thought to try pita bread before. I can’t wait to give it a try. I’m planning on making the cupcakes today along with the banana peanut butter granola, and maybe the cheddar dill scones.

Thank you so much! I love food blogs! I just need more time in the day to bake everything I want to try.

Pita bread is something I’ve been wanting to try making myself for a long time now, but have just never gotten around to it. I think I may finally give them a try with your recipe, it looks really easy!

I’ve been wanting to try homemade pita bread since we love gyros so much and this will be the recipe to try it with. Thanks for posting it!

Melissa

You are such a great photographer! Your recipes are always amazing as well as your pictures! I have two questions for you – (1) Do you have any advice regarding photographing food? & (2) How would you freeze the pitas (in a freezer bag)?
Thanks!

I got to try these. My attempts with yeast and whole wheat flour have been disastrous so far. But I am not giving up yet!!! Your pita bread looks perfect. And I like your detailed step-by-step directions. Will try this very soon, thanks for sharing.

Courtney P.

WOW! Those look amazing! Your site has been my go to resource for everything lately!! Your food is amazing! I wish I had just a tiny bit of your talent :-)

Did you post a recipe for regular pitas awhile back? I think I got the recipe from you . . .

Anyway, you are right. Once I made homemade pitas, the store bought just seem nasty. One question, how do you reheat them? They are smooth and pliable when they come out of the oven, but when I reheat them they tend to split.

Ariana from Chicago

a way to use up my ww flour, awesome. thanks for making it look so easy

I made your white flour ones and I love them, and just was wishing for a whole wheat version. I use high gluten white flour and it makes a huge difference in the chewiness!! Any reason why you recommend the bread flour instead of high gluten?

Wow, those look so good. I love gyros, but have never made them at home. I’ll have to add them to my list and make these pitas!

Mary R

I’m in the same boat with homemade pita; I just can’t go back to store bought. It might be time to enter a 12-step program when you find you can’t live without homemade tortillas, though. Those things are true manna…but boy, are they labor intensive for such a simple product!

I have a bread machine..from your experience, could I use the same recipe?

Annie

Heather,
I always do. I love pita chips!

Annie

Melissa,
Food photography advice – too complicated to answer in a quick reply. My best advice is just carefully study pictures you like, and figure out what it is about them that appeals to you. Then try to apply it in your own photos. Also, just practice, practice, practice! As for freezing the pitas, yeah, I’d just use a freezer bag.

Annie

Lisa,
I did, you are correct! I don’t usually bother reheating pitas because I tend to eat them at room temperature anyway. I’m not sure what the best way to reheat is!

Annie

Sue,
As far as I know, bread flour is a high gluten flour so to me, the terms are synonymous. And, I always have bread flour on hand.

Annie

Liesa,
I don’t know anything about bread machines, sorry. It’s really easy to make it by hand though!

Sue

Annie–

Ohhhh, you are going to hate me. King Arthur makes this high gluten flour. Once you try it, you’ll never want to go back and it’s not cheap!!!!!

From the picture I presumed for a second this was a recipe for giant snicker-doodles! They do look wonderfully soft & fluffy, I can’t Wait to give this a go. Lately all I have felt like for weeknight dinners is homemade roasted pepper & garlic hummus with toasted wholewheat pittas. It would be so much better with lovely homemade pittas

Sarah

What a great blog! I just found it tonight. I never thought pita was so easy to make. For some reason I thought you needed a special pan or something to make them. I just went and bought 5 packages to freeze from my local arabic market. I am now wondering if I should use those up before I try my hand at making my own! I am afraid if I make yours, the ones I just bought will sit in my freezer for years to come!

Carrie

Annie, I don’t buy bread flour, I’m too cheap to buy ANOTHER flour. What would happen if I used all whole wheat or AP for the bread flour? I LOVE your regular pita recipe, have been using it forever along with your gyros recipe. Its a family favorite!

Annie

Hi Carrie,
Nothing horrible will happen if you use all-purpose flour in place of bread flour, but results are always better with bread flour. It has a higher gluten content than regular flour, yielding a chewier result in bread dough (as it should be). I think bread flour is totally worth the extra cost.

Carrie

Doesn’t whole wheat flour have a higher gluten content? If I used all whole wheat would that be better than AP?

Annie

Carrie,
Wheat flour may have a higher gluten content, I’m not sure. However, most wheat bread recipes call for a mixture of wheat and white flours. All wheat tends to produce a dense, less flavorful final product so it’s not really recommended.

jaimiec

Interesting. Seems like a good excuse to buy bread flour.

Sarah

YEAH!! I just finished making these! They turned out great! The only thing I did was cook a few to long. (Trying to deal with two kids running around sometimes got me preoccupied.) But, they were still very tasty! Also, next time I am going to stretch them out a bit more. They turned out nice an fluffy!!! Thank you for a wonderful blog!!

Alexis

I made these yesterday. Super yummy! It wasn’t hard. Since they disappeared so quickly, is this a recipe I can double without making any changes? Also I had trouble stretching them. I would get them in shape and I would blink a few times and they would be smaller. Is this normal? I also lost one down between the oven racks. The rest I had to be extremely careful placing them on the rack.

Haley

I just made these today and they turned out delicious! I also made the original hummus recipe that you posted, and let’s just say I am veerrrryyy full now! Thanks for sharing all of your great recipes and hard work – I can always trust that your recipes will turn out great!

Stefanie

I made these today. By the time I tasted them, I had made up my mind I wasn’t going to like them since they were so much work. But darnit they were very light and tasty. I’m not sure how often I’ll make my own pitas, since it’s sort of an all afternoon or all morning affair, but maybe occasionally. It was very good. Looking forward to see how well they go with the chicken gyros for dinner tonight!

Becky

I just made a test batch, and wow, they were good. So easy too! Now I’m dreaming of gyros, hummus, falafel, mmm…

Annie I love your blog and all your recipes!!! I decided to make these today, but I have three small children at my feet whenever I bake so it can be hard to do labor intensive recipes! I decided to make them all but the last steps of course in my bread machine and it worked!! They were fantastic!!! thanks so much!

Hi! First, I love your blog! I can’t wait to make more of the recipes here! I made these pitas yesterday and everything went fine – but I couldn’t get the dough to stretch to 6-7 inches…it would continually shrink back. I wonder if I did something wrong, or if you have a suggestion to fix this?

I’m making your chicken gyros tonight – cannot wait!

Annie

Hi Chelsea,
If you have trouble with the dough shrinking back, give it 10-15 minutes or so to relax before trying again. Also sometimes I find a rolling pin to be useful in rolling out pita because they need to be so thin.

Made these again (they are so addicting) and tried rolling the dough out to get it thinner. This provided much better results. Thanks for the tip!

daniell

just wondering annie if i can substitute the bread flour with all purpose or whole wheat flour

Annie

Try Googling for sub ratios as far as bread vs. AP flour. Don’t sub whole wheat though, you need a balance otherwise you will have a tough, dense result.

Jeana

I made these today (to go with your recipe for chicken gyros, which were great!) and this pita bread is SO good! It was pretty easy to make, the dough was very easy to work with, and they came out so soft and fluffy. I will definitely be making these again!!

Lydia MacDonald

I made these a few days ago, and they were so good! But I had a minor mishap, I baked the pita directly on the oven rack, which caused large lines through the bread and made it so it didn’t rise enough to cut to create a sandwich. Do you have any advice or input on what went wrong? Also, I’ve always wondered how you make your pieces such a perfect size!? Thank you for a wonderful recipe!

Annie

Lydia, I’m not sure, I always bake mine on a baking stone. Maybe you could try that instead. I use a kitchen scale to be sure all my pieces are equal sizes before I shape the pita.

Cate

Hi – I just finished baking these and they’re fantastic! It’s been a while since I’d made pita breads and I think I may have to start making these on a weekly basis!

Jessica

I made these yesterday for Greek chicken pita sandwiches. They were AMAZING! I rarely eat pitas because the store-bought are pretty horrible, but these were easy and came out perfect the first time I made them. Thanks for sharing this recipe!

Jeana

How do you usually make your pita chips from these? I looked up some ways to do it online (most said 400 degrees for about 7 minutes) but those recipes are all for store-bought pitas which are so much different from this WONDERFUL, fluffy pita bread so I thought it would be more accurate to ask for your method. Thanks! Hope you’re having a great week :)

Annie

I don’t really have a specific method – just high oven temp, brush or spray with a little oil and bake until they seem as crisp as I like them.

Lydia B

I just made these this morning to go with the Greek Chicken Salad. Yummy! I don’t have a pizza stone, and when I placed the first one on the oven rack, it was immediately clear that wasn’t going to work well. The method I ended up going with was cooking them for a couple minutes on a baking sheet and then transferring them directly onto the oven rack for a minute to a minute and a half on each side.

Annie

You can just flip a baking sheet over and preheat it with the oven to have it function in a similar way to a baking stone (a preheated surface), so they start to cook immediately when in contact with the baking sheet.

Stephanie

I made these for lunch today- easy and delicious! I will definitely be buying a baking stone for next time, as I think that will work a little better than baking them directly on the oven rack.
Also, I’ve been following your blog for a while now, have tried many recipes, and have recommended your site to friends, but I’ve never commented until now. Love your site! Thanks for sharing so many great recipes Annie!

Susan Smith

These are delicious and very easy to make by hand. Next time, I will try to roll these out thinner because some of ours were too thick.

Jeana

My new favorite thing is making your recipe for pesto and mixing it with nonfat plain greek yogurt and chopped up grilled chicken breast pieces as a sort of ‘healthy’ creamy pesto chicken salad, and eating it in this whole wheat pita bread! So good! Thank you for your wonderful recipes and inspiration!

kathleen bliss

Hi i have heard so many good comments about your receipe for chicken gyros. Where can i find this receipe.
Thanks

We went to Mediterranean last night for dinner, These Pita’s, Asparagus & Shrimp Feta and Herb Mac. Everyone loved it. I did have a question for you though…How wet is your pita bread dough after you have kneaded it? Mine was quite sticky so I added almost 2 more cups of flour. They pitas turned out just fine but if they are supposed to be sticky, then next time I’ll just leave out he extra flour.

Annie

I always need to add more flour, but no more than maybe half a cup. 2 cups is way too much! The dough should be a little bit sticky.

I’m pretty sure I miscounted as I measured. I have three little helpers that somehow always know when it’s time to add dry measurements to a recipe (they seem to line up for their turn when the measuring begins) – It’s easy for me to loose track of the measure count if the turn taking doesn’t go smoothly.

AEC

Yum! I made these for dinner tonight and they were delicious! I used waaaay too much cornmeal on the pans where I put the pitas to rise, so they had a little bit of an odd texture. I was skeptical that they’d be worth the time and effort, but I’ll definitely be making these again, and next time I’ll just go lighter on the cornmeal!

amanda

Made and loved these! I left out the bread flour and used 3 cups of a multi-grain flour mix I picked up from the Indian grocery store, which contained whole wheat, barley, millet, chickpea, soy, and corn flour. Since I’m used to using 100% ww in flatbreads (like Indian chapati, pizza dough, etc.), I was hopeful they’d turn out great–and they did! Used a little less olive oil (2 tbsp) but otherwise kept everything else the same. They puffed up great and are heavenly with hummus. Plus they were so fun to make! thanks for the recipe!

I have made these twice now and I absolutely love them! THis is a must make recipe! thanks!

Jill

These were great! I simplified it and didn’t do the 1hr rise…just let the yeast mix sit for 15min, added the rest and made the disks. Let those sit for 45min, then cooked, and they turned out great! Delicious flavor, and next time I’ll try not to start at 10:30 at night lol!

Made these today and they taste delicious right out of the oven, can’t wait to stuff them. Quick question though, mine seemed to either puff WAY up or they puffed up maybe 1/2-1″ and had little pot-hole like spots where the dough looked uncooked. I know it wasn’t because I tasted one. Any ideas where I went wrong, other than not flattening out the dough enough. Saw the rolling pin, will definitely try that next time.

Annie

Hmm, I’m really not sure. I’ve made a lot of pita but I don’t think I’ve ever had the problem you’re describing. Mine do puff up a LOT, but I like it that way :) I would think maybe the ones that didn’t puff up just needed to rise a bit longer, but it’s tough to say. Good luck next time!

Jessica

Hi – I found your blog via Pinterest and just and to comment on this post. First, I am excited to try the pita bread. I hope that it turns out as lovely as yours looks. Second, have you made (haven’t looked through the blog a lot, so maybe you have) homemade English muffins? Oh my heaven! I am addicted to these babies. They are SO much better than anything I have ever had at the store. I plan to make some this week. Thanks for sharing your love for homemade yummy food! I will be back. :)

Annie

Yes, I do have a recipe for those. You can just use the search bar on the right hand side. Enjoy!

Libby D.

I love this recipe!!! First time using yeast at all and your instructions were spot on :) Turned out fantastic. I only used King Arthur’s whole wheat flour though, no bread flour. Just my husband and I and we only have 4 left after dinner… Mm-mmm Good! Thanks!

Laura F

I made these yesterday for dinner. They were amazing. I don’t think I will be able to buy store bought pitas again. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I am new to your blog and I must say I am loving it. I have tried a few recipes and everything has been great. Looking forward to trying more recipes soon.

Crystal B

What texture should the dough have? Before kneading, mine was really sticky and jiggly, kinda like a bag of water. I had to add in a lot of flour to make it workable. Also, mine didn’t make a pocket. Any idea what when wrong? They still tasted amazing, though.

Anonymous

It doesn’t sound like anything was wrong. Bread dough is extremely variable depending on environmental factors such as humidity, how you measure your flour, etc. I often add a lot of additional flour until it is easily workable.

Emesisbasinrn

Just made these tonight and the dough was totally much too wet. I’ve made other pita recipes before, so this isn’t a first time for me. There is just too much liquid in this recipe to make the dough workable…I had to add at least another half cup of flour (probably more since I was using my hand to scoop it into the stand mixer)… The result was very good, although the outside was very smooth (not textured like I am used to) but perhaps my WW flour was ground too finely.. they did taste delicious…I’d probably just cut back on the water and/or oil…

Anonymous

Bread recipes vary widely depending on the humidity of your environment, how heavily you scoop flour, etc. I always have to add flour to this recipe. It’s the jumping off point – you decide when it’s right.

Rebekah

Mrs. Annie, these are a.maz.ing. It’s the first time I’ve made pitas and I was so thrilled with the results. Thank you so very much for sharing!

Andrea Sabean

These are truly amazing! I had five kids all scrambling for a place in front of the oven window so they could watch them puff up!

Emesisbasinrn

I just wanted to share I made these yet again (the chicken is sooo good) and I used only 1/2 cup water (vs 3/4 ) after making the sponge and it was perfect. The dough came together much easier (vs. trying to knead in more and more flour) and the resulting pitas puffed up beautifully in the oven. Just from my personal perspective, I think its better to cut back on the water then to keep trying to add flour to “fix” an over-wet recipe…. still made 8 generous sized pitas as well. I’m happy now :)

Anonymous

To each their own. I make this a couple times a month as indicated here and it turns out wonderfully. There is more than one way to do things :)

Sharon

Hi Annie,

Can you make the pita bread in advance the day before and bake up the next day? If so, where do I keep it (fridge? counter and covered with cling film? before or after I separated them in balls?)

Anonymous

I’ve never tried that. I just bake it the day before I need to use it. If you kept the recipe as is and didn’t bake the dough until the next day, I’m sure it would overrise so you would have to make modifications to compensate.

Jocelyn

This bread is delicious and the dough is easy to work with, but mine did not have a pocket. Could this be a problem with the bread not puffing up enough during baking? Also, is it okay to use a rolling pin to achieve an even flatness? I would like to be able to make sandwiches with the bread, so any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks so much.

annieseats

I can’t say for certain, but I’ve been told that the pocket comes from the flip during baking. In my experience this seems accurate, but something else could be at play as well. You can definitely use a rolling pin. I typically do because I think, like you said, it helps get an even thickness.

SK

have made these twice now, LOVE it!!!! I use all whole wheat no bread flour, turns out fine for me.

Will I ever buy pitas from the store ever again? Nope, don’t think so :) I love how soft these turn out!

Caspr

I’m making these now for the first time and accidently bought regular active yeast instead of instant yeast…is that a big deal? Guess I’ll find out soon enough!

annieseats

Should be fine, but the yeast needs time to activate. See the FAQ page for more info. Enjoy!

Jennifer Lintzeris

I can’t wait to try these tomorrow! (inspired by your Greek pizza pita today!). But I have one question regarding the yeast. In the store I saw 2 kinds: dry active yeast & “rapid-rise” yeast. Is the rapid rise the same as “instant”? I didn’t see anything that said “instant”!!!!! (my 1st time making bread of any kind, surprisingly since I’m a baker at heart!) thank you!!!

annieseats

Please see the FAQ page. Thanks!

ZoeDawn

Oh wow. Made pitas this evening and they were wonderful. WAY better than from the store. Also used this dough to make pizza last night and it was the best pizza I ever made (and I always use homemade dough). It puffed up around the edges similar to the way pizza parlor pizza does. Awesome recipe!

Millie

can i use something besides yeast to make this for the rising and can I just use all wheat flour and not bread flour? Would appreciate a reply. :)

annieseats

Please see the FAQ page regarding substitutions. Thanks!

Megan Brown

This looks fabulous! Can’t wait to try them. Do you know if the dough and/or baked pitas last well in the freezer? I’d like to make a bigger batch and preserve some if possible for a quicker go-to in the future.

annieseats

Yes, the baked pita keep very well in the freezer. See the posts linked on the FAQ page for more info about freezing baked goods. Enjoy!

Becky

I notice that some of your whole grain recipes call for whole wheat flour and others call for white whole wheat flour. I am new to baking with whole grains and am wondering if they can be used interchangeably? Also, if you were only going to purchase one, which would you recommend?

annieseats

You might want to peruse some of the posts in my Baking with Whole Grains series (http://www.annies-eats.com/category/baking-with-whole-grains/). I talk about some of the different types of flour and how they can be used. I have found that I have best results with using either all white whole wheat flour or half AP, half whole wheat when converting a recipe to whole grain that isn’t already. If I were only going to buy one, it would be the white whole wheat flour, but I love having an array because they all have different characteristics. King Arthur Flour’s website is also a good resource for learning about the differences and their Whole Grain Baking cookbook is full of info as well.

Becky

Thanks for the in-depth reply and suggestions, Annie! I have spent some time reviewing your whole grain posts and the KA website. I think I’m now ready to tackle my first whole grain recipe! :)

annieseats

No problem! So glad it was helpful :) Good luck!

Carrie

I’ve wanted to try these for months, and a snow day in New England gave me some extra time. These were amazing! So easy and delicious!! We recently moved away from an area with a large Middle Eastern population and haven’t found pita that met our standards…this definitely changes that! Thanks for such great directions and a delicious recipe. We won’t be buying pita anymore!